Document information

Physical location:

89.06.00e

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to a gentleman in Silverton, 1889-06 [89.06.00e]. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id//letters/1880-9/1889/89-06-00e-final.odt>, accessed June 15, 2026

1
Letter not found. The extract given here is from Australian town and country journal (Sydney), 15 June 1889, p. 17 (B89.06.05). It is dated to early June as the latest date that it could have been written to be reported in this edition. It was introduced by:
The local paper said: A specimen of the poison plant which just now abounds on the Barrier, and which has been the means of killing several valuable horses, sheep, &c., has been submitted by a Silverton [NSW] gentleman to Baron von Mueller, who says that it is the euphorbia drummondi. He remarks that:
like all its congeners, it is very deleterious and has been the cause of losses among animals, particularly in times of drought, when it will hold its place while grasses and general herbage get dried up. Where the plant abounds the ground should be scarified and sown with the seeds of the most resisting grasses, herbs, and saltbushes of the district.
2
The report continues:
The specimen submitted was obtained from the neighborhood of Silverton, and is recognisable by the small reddish pods which form part of the plant, and which yield a milky sap.